Joe Lieberman lit up the internet after calling on New Yorkers to vote for Joe Crowley, instead of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Lieberman said, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hurts the party, Congress and even America.” He went on to write that Ocasio-Cortez’s surprise primary victory over Rep. Joe Crowley “seems likely to hurt Congress, America and the Democratic Party.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the Democratic candidate who defeated incumbent and party Rep. Joe Crowley in a the recent New York Primary.
The Lieberman op-ed continued, “because the policies Ms. Ocasio-Cortez advocates are so far from the mainstream, her election in November would make it harder for Congress to stop fighting and start fixing problems. Thanks to a small percentage of primary votes, all of the people of New York’s 14th Congressional District stand to lose a very effective representative in Washington.”
Lieberman also denounces her positions on Israel, Syria, and abolishing ICE. “…support for socialist governments, even if they are dictatorial and corrupt (Venezuela), opposition to American leadership in the world, even to alleviate humanitarian disasters (Syria), and reflexive criticism of one of America’s great democratic allies (Israel).” Ocasio-Cortez has received a tremendous amount of attention for calling to “Abolish ICE,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Lieberman continued, “For the sake of Congress and our country, I hope Joe Crowley will give all the voters of his district the opportunity to re-elect him in Novembe–and I hope they find his name on their ballots. As things stand, Joe Crowley continues to a potential contender because he will be listed on the Working Families Party ticket in November 2018, but would need to reassert himself into the race to have a reasonable chance of winning.
You can see the complete Joe Lieberman WSJ Op-Ed here.